


Words Left Unsaid

by midnightruse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Fighting, Galra Keith (Voltron), Happy Ending, Hurt Keith (Voltron), M/M, Major Injury, Mission Gone Wrong, One Shot, Pining Keith (Voltron), Voltrash, but you’ve got to work for it first, klance, klangst, vld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-29 02:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12621576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightruse/pseuds/midnightruse
Summary: Keith likes lance. Like LIKE likes Lance. Of course he can’t tell him or anything though because there’s no way Lance feels the same.But when a solo mission goes horribly wrong, Keith wishes he hadn’t left so many things unsaid.





	Words Left Unsaid

"Don't go dying on me now, Mullet."   
Lance yelled jokingly as he trailed behind Keith, who was making his way to Red. Keith rolled his eyes and kept walking, responding with a finger in the air. He heard Lance's laugh behind him and he forced his own face to remain neutral. Now is not the time for your crush. You have a mission. Focus.

Minutes later, Keith slid into his seat and flexed his hands around the controls. A fiery wave washed over him as the glowing lights of the panels flickered on. He smiled to himself and took a moment to breathe and mentally go over his task. He was flying solo to a small moon not too far from the planet where the castle was grounded while Coran and Allura made repairs on several operating systems of the ship, the cryopods and training simulators in particular. It made sense, seeing how much Team Voltron used both.

They'd received a transmission from a group of five rather obnoxious and loud beings who's ship had crashed on the moon. Keith was supposed to carry their ship via his Lion to the castle so the Paladins could help them fix their ship and get back on their way. The team had drawn straws to see who would have to go, and Keith had lost. He couldn't stop the small flutter in his chest when Lance had followed him anyway, even if it was just to yell something stupid and annoying.

He flipped on his comms as he launched Red into space. Just to be on the safe side, Shiro had told him to keep in contact throughout his mission. Keith didn't really think it was necessary, he was just picking up a ship not even that far away, but he didn't even want to risk Shiro's Disappointed Dad™ look.

"Red Lion and Paladin to Overprotective Space Dad: leaving the ship now. No sign of Galra attackers...or anyone for that matter. Keeping constant vigilance in the case that a black hole appears." Keith was following orders--Shiro had never said anything about keeping his attitude in check.

"Thanks, Captain Smart-Ass."

"Anytime, Sheriff Not-A-Lot-Of-Fun." Keith cracked a smile as he heard everyone else on the command deck laughing. The Broganes, as Pidge had so kindly dubbed them, rarely made jokes, but when they did, they didn't hold back. It was about the only time Shiro let Keith's foul language slip without yelling at him for it, and this was only because he found himself cursing back just as colorfully nine times out of ten.

"Okay Alien Boy, let us know if anything actually happens."

"Shiro, you can't just talk about someone's hybrid DNA like that! Its a sensitive subject!" Lance butted in. This time Keith didn't have to hide his smile since nobody could see it with him only streaming his voice over the comms.

"You're a sensitive subject too, but that never stops anyone from talking about you."

"KEITH! How could you?! I defended you! That's it. Never again. Take your poor hairstyle and fine Galra ass and never return. Be sure to send Red back though, we kinda need her so we can form Voltron and all."

Keith ignored Lance's theatrics, his mind stuck on one part only. "You think my ass is 'fine' huh?"

Keith could practically hear the gears in Lance's head grinding to a stop. A collective "oh shit" trickled through the comms from everyone else. Keith was about to fire off another smart remark, but he stopped short when the moon came into sight, instantly shifting his focus. "Shiro, the moon is in sight. I'm going to land and talk to them, then I'll be heading back with them."

"Copy that."

Keith began his descent to the moon's surface, easily finding the stranded ship. As he went to land, he felt Red send him a short protest, but the feeling was gone as quick as it had come. Keith tried to get Red to explain, but she was being quiet. He shook his head and set down on the moon, sending a cloud of white dirt into the atmosphere. Keith tapped his helmet to activate his suit to seal and begin pumping oxygen. While the gravity on this moon was surprisingly similar to the artificial gravity on the Castle-Ship, the air was far from breathable.

Keith walked down the ramp in Red's mouth and set out to meet with the beings. He hated diplomacy and socialization in general, but even he could manage to debrief and carry the smaller ship.

"I'm going to their ship now. I don't see any of them, but they are probably just taking shelter inside."

"Be alert, Keith. You never know--"

Keith tuned Shiro out as he walked closer to the ship. In the transmission it had sounded like the ship was completely wrecked, but from what Keith could see it looked fine. He brushed it off, figuring the crew had just over-exaggerated to get a quicker response.

Keith banged his hand on the door of the ship. After a moment it opened, but nobody came out. Keith frowned, but he took a step inside the ship, wanting to find the crew and get back to his team as soon as possible.

The instant he was clear of the door, it slammed shut. Keith whipped around and looked at the door. "What the hell?"

At his words, Shiro finally ceased the lecture he was still giving to a not-listening Keith. "What happened?"

Keith took a few tentative steps through the dark ship. The only sources of light were small strips that lined the floors and the faint glow of his Paladin suit. "I'm not sure..." Keith started to explain further but a sharp interjection from Red had him catching his breath.

It's not safe.

Before he could ask his Lion what she meant, Keith felt a sharp prick pierce his neck through his suit. Before he could even react, an icy, painful liquid flooding through his veins. Keith staggered, finally turning around to see one of the crew members from the transmission holding a huge syringe in one hand and a blade in the other. "What did you do?" Keith growled and leapt at his attacker, activating his bayard. Keith swung once, a blow that normally would have incapacitated his opponent immediately, but he swung wide and his momentum carried his unsteady body crashing into the wall. He could hear buzzing in his helmet, but he couldn't focus on that. He was too busy trying to figure out how he missed. And why his vision was blurred around the edges.

Loud footsteps rang through the hall, catching Keith's unfocused attention. The remaining four from the transmission joined their friend, and the five of them just stood there, watching Keith with calculating expressions on their faces and blades hanging loosely in their hands. Keith blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. He could feel his body breaking out in a cold sweat. He swallowed hard, leaning heavily against the wall and made an extra effort to keep his sword from falling out of his hand.

"What the fuck did you do to me?" Keith felt his words slurring. The crew didn't move or acknowledge that Keith had said anything at all.

"KEITH WHAT IS GOING ON??" Lance's voice cut through the fog in Keith's head.

"..Lance?"

"Jesus, don't scare me like that! Yes it's me, now what's going on?"

Keith shook his head and blinked the sweat out of his eyes. Was it getting hotter in the ship? "I d'unno they 'jected sumthin 'nd m'not feelin good." Keith couldn't keep his words to meld together. It was hard enough to think words as it was.

"Shit, okay, Keith we're coming for you, okay? Get out of there and get to Red! Just get to your Lion, we are coming." Lance's voice cut off and Keith was alone with the five. The five who were still looking at him with unmoving expressions.

He needed to get through them. He needed to get back to Red. That's what Lance had told him, right? Yes, Lance said that they were coming. Lance was so nice. He really liked Lance. Like, REALLY liked Lance. But Lance probably hated him. Lance told him to do something though, and he'd do anything for Lance. Anything for the boy who loved the ocean and had eyes a prettier shade of blue than anything else in the entire universe.

Keith gripped his sword in both hands and tried to steady the visible shaking in his arms. He needed to focus. He needed to get out of there. Keith pulled one hand back to try to stabilize the blade, but a violent wave of pain shot through his body. His hand slid across the edge of his sword, causing blood to immediately drip onto the floor.

Somehow that was enough to clear Keith's head, even if only temporarily. He eyed the five beings in front of him and gripped his sword with his good hand, silently thanking the fact that he was ambidextrous.

Without warning, Keith swung out at the creature closest to him. Though his body was still unsteady, his blade swung true and easily sliced across its chest. As the first dropped to the ground, the other four raised their weapons and wasted no time before they attacked.

Even on his off-days, Keith could take on four baddies by himself, no big deal. All those hours on the training deck paid off in more ways than one. But standing on this ship, feeling his body quickly giving out and the flickers of strange pain causing his movements to stutter and hesitate, Keith wasn't so sure if he could win. No matter what, though, he would sure as hell give it his all.

His first major misstep gave him a deep cut across one of his thighs. His already unstable balance was completely thrown off as his leg grew numb. Not only had they injected him with something, but their blades must have been laced with something too. Keith's theory was proved to be right when one of the attackers drove their blade home in Keith's arm. The pain he felt as the sword was ripped back out was nothing compared to the terrifying nothingness that quickly replaced any feeling in the limb.

Somehow Keith managed to take out two of the four with an extremely lucky, missed swing of his bayard. He was having trouble moving now, more than he had before. The dizzying effects of the injection were returning from their brief disappearance, and added to that was his useless, numb arm and his dragging leg. He needed to end this now, or else he was going to be the one that was ended.

"Keith? Are you there? The moon is in sight, okay, so we will be there in just a tick. Please hang on, Keith." Lance's desperate tone gave Keith one last burst of strength. He just had to hold out until they got here.

Keith feigned a slash at one of the remaining two, but at the last moment he managed to wrap his sword arm around the other one's neck, holding it hostage. He was going to get some answers...and hopefully stall long enough to buy the team some more time.

"Who are you people? What do you want?" Keith hissed, trying to sound as threatening as he could when it was everything he could do to keep his hold firm.

The free being looked between Keith and their partner with a sword pressed to their neck. They seemed to mull over their thoughts for a moment, but then chose to speak. "The Emperor ordered your capture. Said Halfling needed brought to Emperor."

Keith's frown deepened. "What are you talking about?"

"You are half Galra, are you not? Poisons only work on Galra, would not affect humans. That why Emperor gave special serum and blades to apprehend Halfling. Emperor ship on its way to collect Halfling. Didn't want Halfling using Red Lion or escaping so needed to weaken it. We not allowed to kill. Allowed to hurt but no kill. Instructed to not give antidote until Halfling is safe in cell. Halfling should surrender before poison spread further."

Keith processed the information the best he could, but he was distracted by the yelling in his helmet as they landed on the moon. His attention was gone for only a second, but that was enough time for the guy he was holding to turn in Keith's arms and slash their blade across his chest from shoulder to the opposite hip. Keith cried out and dropped to the ground, his working arm grabbing at his bleeding chest. The pain from the wound was replaced by the tingling numbness, except for not only did it prevent him from being able to move around but it also made it difficult to breathe.

"Keith! What's wrong? Guys we need to get in there NOW." Lance's voice rang loudly in Keith's ears.

"Lance," Keith spoke slowly, putting all his energy into actually forming words and not the incoherent sounds that tried to push their way through. "Lance, m'not doin' too good. Kinda...kinda hard t'breathe." Whatever clarity Keith had found moments before was buried by the return of the fuzz in his head. He had been sitting after that last wound, but he blinked and he was suddenly slumped against a wall. His vision was fading in and out. He could barely make out the figures of the two remaining attackers, who just stood there watching him. The ringing in his ears was persistent. He thought maybe it was Lance taking through the comms, but the idea slipped through his brain like every other thought was.

A loud crash startled the two fuzzy shapes in front of him, but Keith's only reaction was a slow, shaking breath. It was REALLY hard to breathe. He was really tired. Maybe he should go to sleep. Yeah, sleep sounded nice.

"Don't go to sleep Keith! You've gotta stay awake, NO don't close your eyes!!" Keith slowly pulled his eyes open just enough to see bright blue in front of his face. He smiled lazily. That was his favorite blue. He couldn't remember why, but it made him happy. It was too hard to keep his head up, so he let it drop down. Something held him up, but he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to figure out what. He'd just close his eyes for a second, it would be fine.

*

  
Keith opened his eyes when he felt an angry and scared roar in his head. It hurt. He wanted to look around but his body was so heavy it was all he could do to not fall back asleep.

"Keith, buddy, are you still with me? Please say something."

Keith squinted and slowly recognized the blue and white suit sitting in the chair in front of him. "Lance?" It hurt to talk.

Lance whipped his head around, meeting Keith's unfocused gaze for a moment before snapping back to the controls as he flew as quickly as Blue could go. "Yeah, it's me, Keith. You're going to be alright, just hang in there a little longer."

Keith frowned, confused. What was wrong? Why did Lance look so sad and scared? Why was he on the floor in the Blue Lion? The thoughts came to him slowly, and with them returned what little feeling he had in his body. He wanted to explain to Lance what was going on, to tell him what happened, but his eyes were closing and unconsciousness reclaimed him.

*

  
When Keith opened his eyes again he was lying on a table with too-bright lights hurting his eyes. He could hear yelling nearby and it was too loud. A small groan slipped past his lips before he could stop it. It was as if a switch had flipped when the room grew quiet. Then the moment was shattered and there were people standing over him asking him questions. Keith couldn't focus on any one person, so he screwed his eyes shut and waited for the room to quiet back down.

A hand gently gripped Keith's shoulder. Keith opened his eyes to find Lance looking at him with red, puffy eyes. "How are you feeling?"

Keith gave a small laugh that turned into a painful, raspy cough. "Like shit. What happened?"

Lance furrowed his brow in concern. "We were hoping you could tell us. Do you not remember?"

Keith noted the rest of his team standing in the room as well. He couldn't move his body to sit up, but his head was finally becoming less hazy and his vision was back to normal. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before answering Lance. Of course he remembered. There were just a few gaps here and there...including him being back at the castle but not in a cryopod?

"The pods are still inoperable. We were in the middle of completing our repairs when we received your...distress message." Allura seemed to have been able to read the confused look on Keith's face. That made a lot more sense then.

Keith looked to Shiro for reassurance before speaking. "The transmission was a set-up. They were under Galra orders and were waiting for us...for me, I guess. They jumped me and had a syringe of something, I don't know what, but they said that it only reacted to Galra genes. They said it was a poison of some sort. And then their blades were coated in something that made whatever they struck lose all feeling. When Lance got there I could barely even breathe... wait," Keith tried to move to look at his injuries, but Lance gently pushed him back down (not that Keith would have been able to get all the way up in the first place).

"Don't try to move too much! Coran gave you something to make it easier for you but..." Lance threw a worrying glance at the rest of the Paladins.

"Until the pods are up and running, there's only so much we can do, Keith. Your injuries from the swords will unfortunately regain feeling shortly. We've tended to them as best we could, but until the cryopods recalibrate with the castle they won't be able to heal." Allura set a hand on Keith's arm.

"Why do I have the feeling you've got more bad news?" Keith looked at the Princess as she winced at his words.

"What Allura isn't saying is that the thing they injected you with is a toxin that targets and destroys Galra genes. From the scans we were able to do, we think it's something they've been using to force prisoners to cooperate. They knew about your genetic makeup and used the serum to try to capture you and Red." Pidge looked at the ground as they spoke, refusing to look at Keith. "We...we can't synthesize an antidote, not without the pods working."

"So unless the castle finishes its repairs...it's going to kill me?" the slight inflection in Keith's voice gave away his rising panic.

"We'll get them working." Shiro stood behind Allura, looking determined as always.

Keith tried to wrap his mind around it all, but he found it difficult to think. His head was starting to pound and he felt a foreboding tingling where he knew he was bleeding.

"We're going to figure this out, Keith. The stuff Coran gave you earlier should slow everything down long enough to give the castle time to fix itself." Lance looked at Keith with such a tender and fond gaze that Keith's cheeks heated up. His ever-present crush was much more active today...he needed to get that under control.

Keith remained on the bed while everyone but Lance walked to the other side of the room to monitor the progress of the castle and the cryopods. Keith wanted to ask Lance how they'd gotten off the moon, but he found the words sticking in his throat. When there were two Lances in front of him, he knew something was wrong--well, more wrong that it already had been.

A painful cough wracked through Keith’s body, and he felt something wet on his lips. Lance’s eyes grew wide and he yelled something, but Keith couldn’t hear anything clearly, it was like he was several feet underwater.

He couldn’t stop himself from coughing again, but his time it wasn’t just one. His body flared up in pain and he couldn’t catch his breath. He could tell Lance was trying to help, but he couldn’t stop coughing and he could feel something dripping down his chin and he had a pretty good idea what it was.

Each breath Keith managed to take seemed smaller than the last. His blurred vision was growing dark. He didn’t like that. He couldn’t see Lance if he couldn’t see.

Then there were hands on him, turning him onto his side. For a moment, he could breathe again. Then the pain tripled and he opened his mouth in a silent scream. It was too much. Keith closed his eyes tightly, but even that couldn’t stop the tears from squeezing through.

He wanted it to end. He’d never felt pain like this before and his chest was getting tighter and tighter, as if something was curling around him and squeezing as hard as it could.

Just when he thought things couldn’t get worse, Keith’s hearing came back full-force. Everything was too loud, too bright, too out of focus and confusing and it HURT.

“What is happening??” Keith squeezed his eyes tighter. That was Lance. He hated hearing Lance that scared.

“We don’t know, w-we’ll figure this out, we just need some more time—“ Lance cut Coran off.

“We don’t have anymore time!! He’s dying! We have to help him!”

Keith could hear someone softly crying. A hand brushed his long bangs out of his face, and Keith could tell from the gentle, shaking touch that it was Lance. Maybe Lance was the one crying?

“It’ll be okay, Keith,” Lance murmured. “I’m here, it’s okay, we are going to figure this out. You’ll be okay.” Keith shivered when he felt cold fingers brushing against his wet cheeks.

Oh.

He was the one crying.

Keith opened his eyes and found himself staring into twin pools of blue. Lance looked terrified.

“That’s it, Keith, just stay with us.”

Keith wanted to reach a hand out to comfort Lance, but his body was too heavy. Lance shouldn’t be that scared. Keith didn’t like making Lance feel that way.

“L’nce,” Keith slurred, barely able to force the word around his heavy tongue and the thick liquid in his mouth that would have choked him by now if he wasn’t lying on his side, letting gravity do the work as it dropped from his mouth. Everything tasted metallic.

“Hey, don’t talk. That’s my job, remember?” Lance smiled, but Keith could see the trembling in Lance’s lips and the tears threatening to spill from his beautiful eyes. Everything about Lance was beautiful, at least to Keith.

He wished he had told Lance how he felt. Now it was too late.

Keith really had shitty timing.

He found himself lost, studying the features of Lance’s face, as if to commit every single detail to memory. He didn’t want to forget Lance.

A sudden realization snapped Keith back to reality. It didn’t hurt anymore. He knew that was a bad sign though. His body was going into shock. It was shutting down.

He had to tell Lance.

Keith put all his remaining energy into moving his hand to meet Lance’s on the edge of the table. He watched as Lance’s eyes followed the movement before snapping back up to meet his.

He had to tell Lance.

His eyes were getting hard to keep open, but he couldn’t let them close. He wanted to look at Lance forever. He needed Lance to know how he felt. Lance deserved that at least, for all that he had to go through because of Keith.

Keith coughed weakly, but it cleared his throat enough so he could force out a hoarse whisper.

“Lance, I-I need you t-to know som-something.” Keith felt himself shaking.

“What is it, Keith?” Lance had given up on holding back his tears.

How could someone be so beautiful when they cried?

“I need y-you t-to know that I,” Keith had to stop to take as deep a breath as he could.

He couldn’t get enough air.

Lance had to know.

“I d-don’t h-hate you, Lance,” Keith managed a small, sloppy smile. “I kinda l-like you. Like a lo- a lot.” Keith’s eyes were forcing themselves shut. He didn’t want to close them but he couldn’t do anything but keep his favorite shade of blue in the forefront of his mind. “I th-think I l-love you.”

He was out of air.

His eyes shut.

He loved Lance.

Wow. He loved Lance.

At least he got to tell him the truth.

 

*

 

  
He felt warm and safe. He hadn’t thought death would feel so...nice.

Something brushed against his head and he hummed. He loved that feeling.

Keith heard a quiet laugh. That sound...that was his favorite sound. He couldn’t quite place where he knew it from but he knew it was important. He snuggled closer, trying to get more of that sound, more of that comfort. Death was nice.

Keith heard the laugh again, and he felt a hand tugging at his hair. He stiffened as he realized what it reminded him of. Lance.

Keith didn’t want to open his eyes. He was dead and he couldn’t handle opening them and not seeing Lance next to him. A hot tear rolled slowly down his cheek.

He didn’t want to be dead.

He wanted Lance.

He wanted Lance.

He wanted—

“Keith, hey it’s okay, don’t cry, it’s all okay now.”

...that voice...that touch...that laugh...

Keith’s eyes flew open, startling the boy next to him.

“LANCE!” Keith threw himself on top of Lance. Lance just laughed to himself and rubbed circles on Keith’s back while he sobbed onto Lance’s chest.

“It’s about time you woke up,” Lance chided, but there was no malice, just a fondness that had never been allowed to show itself before.

“I thought I was dead and I was never going to get to see you again and that—“

Keith’s eyes grew wide as lips cut him off.

Lance was kissing him.

Keith all but melted into the kiss, threading his fingers through Lance’s hair. He’d wanted this for so long.

Keith broke off the kiss with a mischievous smile. “So, it took me dying for you to finally make a move, huh?”

Lance tried to get words out, but it took several tries before his mouth started working again. “If I remember correctly, it took a certain somebody dying to confess, so I think we’re pretty even.”

Keith laughed. He didn’t know the last time he’d been this happy. He kissed Lance, this time it was short but still packed with emotions. Who knew he just had to be in his deathbed to figure everything out? Speaking of dying...

“Uh, Lance? How am I not dead right now?”

Lance cracked a smile at Keith’s scrunched up, confused face. “Pidge figured out the formula to negate the effects just as you were...you know, dying and all...anyway, the serum stopped everything that was happening to you, and then we had to put you in a pod for a few days because injuries and almost dying and all, but you should be good as new now.”

Keith was quiet as he processed the information. It was so close, but his team had pulled through. His family had pulled through.

He looked at Lance, his eyes shining, and smiled, raw and vulnerable and in love. He’d go through all of that again, just to live in this moment the rest of his life. He knew eventually he’d have to get up and go see the rest of the team, but for now he was going to take advantage of all the time he had with Lance that he could.

Keith lowered himself back down and kissed Lance again.

This time there was nothing quick about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote most of this while stuck in a tiny airport in Idaho for a flight to Seattle with a casual 5 hour delay and no WiFi. 
> 
> At least now you all get to suffer with me ^_^ 
> 
>  
> 
> I’m midnightruse on tumblr! Come say hi!


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